News about Duke's Russian Posters Collection, 1919-1989

[Beth Holmgren]

Duke University Libraries recently announced the publication of a new
digital collection called the "Russian Posters Collection, 1919-1989"
<http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/russian-posters/>. This
collection consists of 75 Soviet propaganda posters, representing
distinct eras in the history of Communist political advertising.  It
is divided into three main series:

    * General Political Posters Series  (29 items) 

Original posters from the earliest days of Soviet power and I. V.
Stalin's "Cultural Revolution" cover a range of issues related to
religion, the status of women,  economic and social changes, and
political events. They emphasize the benefits of force-draft
industrialization and agricultural collectivization, the achievements
of the Soviet Union under communism, and the struggle against
capitalism.  This collection of posters from the 1920s and 1930s is
rounded out by an additional nine items from the Facsimile Posters
Series.

    * Twenty-Second Communist Party Congress Posters Series (14 items)
Electioneering placards from the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party
(1961) graphically illustrate N. S. Khrushchev's promise to catch up
and overtake the capitalist countries by 1980. The visual presentation
of statistical data demonstrates the strength of the country in
industrial development, consumer goods, agricultural production,
electrification, and the national welfare, and the collapse of the
colonial system of imperialism and the problems facing capitalism. 

    * Perestroika Era Posters Series (23 items) 

An assemblage of posters from the 1980s contains poignant reminders of
the promises and perils of the period of "restructuring" (perestroika)
and "openness" (glasnost') under M. S. Gorbachev. Most of these
posters were exhibited in Moscow in 1988, just three years before the
break-up of the Soviet Union.  Ten reproductions are in their own
exhibit folder. One poster from an anti-alcoholism campaign unrelated
to the exhibit but from the same period closes the series. 

Enhancements to Duke's "Russian Posters" site continue to be made and
users are encouraged to submit their comments and suggestions to the
Librarian for Slavic and East European Studies at
ernest.zitser at duke.edu or 919-660-5847. 

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